Lake Wylie Report 8.2.09-8.8.09

Lake Wylie has been at or near its target elevation all week. Waters are clear, and water temperatures have ranged from 84-86 on the main lake and rivers and into the 90's on the South Fork River.

Drifting is by far the best way to produce large numbers of fish right now on Wylie. Most of the fish I have found have been from the mid point of the creeks out to the flats along the river channels. The deeper water did not produced that many fish this past week. While we caught 28 fish in the tournament Saturday night, we failed to produce any fish over five pounds.

The main thing to keep in mind in these summer months is to try an area and move on if you do not find channel cats within 30-45 minutes. Don't be afraid to use your motor to cover different depth ranges of the lake to tryt o figure out where the fish are.

Almost all cut baits are producing fish right now. There are no real "secret baits" this time of the year. Readily available baits like bream, white perch, and shad are all working well.

The Ted's Hunting and Fishing catfish tournament did not produce good channel catfish Saturday night, nor did it produce good total numbers according to the anglers at the weigh-in. Most anglers were reporting 8-10 fish being caught with an average weight of around three pounds. Heavy boat traffic on a busy summer Saturday evening probably played a big part in slowing the bite down, espcially early in the evening.

Fishing the right time of day, avoiding high traffic conditions, and in the right areas, anglers can expect to catch 15-20 fish on Lake Wylie this week..

Lake Wylie has been at or near its target elevation all week. Waters are clear, and water temperatures have ranged from 84-86 on the main lake and rivers and into the 90's on the South Fork River.

Drifting is by far the best way to produce large numbers of fish right now on Wylie. Most of the fish I have found have been from the mid point of the creeks out to the flats along the river channels. The deeper water did not produced that many fish this past week. While we caught 28 fish in the tournament Saturday night, we failed to produce any fish over five pounds.

The main thing to keep in mind in these summer months is to try an area and move on if you do not find channel cats within 30-45 minutes. Don't be afraid to use your motor to cover different depth ranges of the lake to tryt o figure out where the fish are.

Almost all cut baits are producing fish right now. There are no real "secret baits" this time of the year. Readily available baits like bream, white perch, and shad are all working well.

The Ted's Hunting and Fishing catfish tournament did not produce good channel catfish Saturday night, nor did it produce good total numbers according to the anglers at the weigh-in. Most anglers were reporting 8-10 fish being caught with an average weight of around three pounds. Heavy boat traffic on a busy summer Saturday evening probably played a big part in slowing the bite down, espcially early in the evening.

Fishing the right time of day, avoiding high traffic conditions, and in the right areas, anglers can expect to catch 15-20 fish on Lake Wylie this week..